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Story By: by Jason Beaubien

Rodrigo y Gabriela’s new album, Area 52, was recorded in Havana with a full Cuban orchestra.

It’s a Monday night at an old movie theater that’s been renovated into a nightclub in the heart of Mexico City. Rodrigo y Gabriela are onstage with their signature nylon-string acoustic guitars. Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are from here. They started playing music together in Mexico City as teenagers in a thrash-metal band in the 1990s. But more than a decade ago, they went off to Europe to busk in the streets. It was in Europe that they developed into “Rodrigo y Gabriela,” an acoustic-guitar act that hit the top of the Irish music charts and has sold more than a million albums worldwide.

They’ve been gone from Mexico for so long that onstage here, Sanchez lightheartedly plays the role of a foreigner in a foreign land.

“This is not a place we are used to coming,” he says. Then he adds wryly of what used to be his hometown, “It’s very pretty.”

Watch Rodrigo y Gabriela Play The NPR Music Office

Rodrigo y Gabriela have performed all over the world. They’ve sold out Radio City Music Hall in New York. Last fall, they played the Hollywood Bowl backed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They’ve been on The Tonight Show and MTV. But in 2010, when they were invited to the White House for a state visit by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Calderon appeared to have no idea who they were.

Not Big In Mexico — At The Start

Onstage in Mexico City with just two guitars, Rodrigo y Gabriela produce intricate arrangements that pull from a wide range of musical styles. Gabriela Quintero provides what can at times be furious rhythms banged out on the strings and body of her guitar. Rodrigo Sanchez’s fingers fly up and down the frets, plucking out riffs and melodies. The physically grueling pace of their playing took its toll in 2010 when, under doctor’s orders, they had to cancel much of their U.S. tour.

They often get slotted into the “world music” genre, but Sanchez says categories are something they try to avoid.

“We come from a rock background, heavy-metal background,” Sanchez says. “We don’t play heavy metal, but we don’t play Latin straight music or Mexican music.”

Rodrigo calls what they do “acoustic rock” with a few extra twists thrown in.

Gabby Gomez, who books the El Plaza Condesa, where Rodrigo y Gabriela are playing on this night, says it’s unusual to have a rock act that’s just two acoustic guitars. Until recently, she says, Rodrigo y Gabriela weren’t getting any airplay on Mexican radio. Gomez says she first heard about them in the foreign press.

“At least for me, it was funny to see a Mexican, Spanish name all over: Rodrigo y Gabriela,” Gomez says, “which was kind of like it was surprising to see that they were Mexican, like where they were from that we just didn’t know about them.”

All Work, No Play

To add to their confusing cultural identity, Rodrigo y Gabriela’s new album, Area 52, was recorded in Havana with a full Cuban orchestra. Quintero says the Cuban project made sense for many reasons. Their record label was pressuring them to come up with a new album. They both grew up listening to Cuban music, but they’d never been to the island.

“I remember I said to Rod, ‘We need to go to Cuba, man,’ ” Quintero says. “We need to go to Cuba and go as a musical experience. One day, one day, one day, and that day just passed. For us to be in this room with all these musicians, it was just incredible. We were like in heaven, you know?”

Quintero says her only regret is that they were working constantly while they were in Cuba and didn’t get to see much of the country. She says they did go out for dinner once in Havana for her birthday.

Their musical success abroad has allowed them to buy a house in Zihuatanejo on Mexico’s Pacific coast, northwest of Acapulco, but that same success has also meant that they don’t spend much time there. On Feb. 19, Rodrigo y Gabriela kick off a four-month tour to promote their new album. Along with a Cuban orchestra, they’re scheduled to play concerts across Europe, the U.S. and Canada — but not Mexico.

All’s well that ends well. Shah Rukh Khan and Shirish Kunder called truce on Tuesday, a day after they were embroiled in a scuffle at a party. Shirish said their friendship has become stronger than ever now.

"Sajid Nadiadwala and Sajid Khan were the mediators and had arranged a meeting. Whatever issues we had, we kept before each other and the misunderstanding has been solved. Things are sorted out now and our friendship is renewed," Kunder said.

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Our relationship has become stronger like never before. Everything that was said has been cleared face to face now

Shirish Kunder

Kunder along with his wife Farah Khan, brother-in-law Sajid Khan, producer Nadiadwala and Shah Rukh’s wife Gauri had arranged the meeting at Shah Rukh’s house, Mannat.

"It was a mutual thing and was not about saying sorry to each other. Since I am younger I can’t expect Shah Rukh to say sorry. We kept our egos aside and were gracious enough about it. Being the younger, I should have not reacted like this. Our relationship has become stronger like never before. Everything that was said has been cleared face to face now," he added.

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Kylie Minogue says her relationship with model Andres Velencoso is the most fulfilling she’s ever had and she just "feels" right with him.

The 43- year-old, who has previously dated actors Michael Hutchence, Olivier Martinez and model James Gooding, is dating Velencoso for three years.

"In the past I have been attracted to complex characters. You want to have some complexity, otherwise it would be boring. But finding the balance is important and years ago before I was ill I didn’t find that balance," contactmusic.com quoted Minogue as saying.

"This just feels right. He’s one of these people you could just drop anywhere and he’d be fine, which sometimes I curse him for," she added.

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<span class="articleLocation”>(Reuters) – NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T) will ask Google Inc (GOOG.O) to modify its Android operating system so that smartphones using it would put less pressure on networks, a move that could spark wider protests against the leading mobile software platform, the Nikkei reported.

The leading Japanese mobile phone service provider identified an Android application, which enables free-of-charge voice communication, as a major cause behind a service disruption that occurred on Wednesday, the business daily said.

Some Android applications send out control signals once every three to five minutes even when not in use. This translates to ten times that of a conventional mobile phone, placing additional strain on the network, the newspaper said.

A sharp rise in data consumption puts more pressure on wireless operators to speed up capacity investments, as they are struggling with clogged telecom networks to keep up with growing demand for data services on the go.

DoCoMo intends to request that Google make Android transmit control signals less often, since frequent service disruptions could hurt the popularity of Android phones, the Nikkei reported.

“Other operators have complained, some publicly, about the pressure Android apps in particular are putting on their networks,” said John Jackson, analyst at British wireless consultancy CCS Insight.

The Japanese paper said that DoCoMo also hopes to team up with other mobile service providers, along with Google, to ask Android application developers to limit the frequency of control signals.

“I expect that at the very least operators worldwide will watch this dispute closely to see what remedy might be in the offing,” Jackson said.

Other operators may use the dispute as an occasion to demand similar modifications, he said.

“Either way, DoCoMo’s move comes at a challenging time for Google with the Android ecosystem failing to generate Apple-like (AAPL.O) revenue and OEM licensees coming under legal pressure from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) in particular,” he added

(Reporting by Meenakshi Iyer in Bangalore and Tarmo Virki in Helsinki; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Gary Hill)

Oboist and conductor Nicholas Daniel has been named as this year's recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music, Buckingham Palace has announced.

A former winner of the BBC young musician of the year, the 50-year-old will be presented with the accolade by the Queen later this year.

Daniel said was "deeply honoured and truly delighted" to receive the prize.

Previous recipients have included conductor Sir Colin Davis and Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.

"As a performer, my job is to serve the composers I perform as best I can, so to have my vocation acknowledged in this way is really wonderful," Daniel said.

"As a solo oboist, chamber musician, conductor and teacher I have been extremely privileged to have worked, and to continue to work, with so many great musicians."

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the master of the Queen's music, who chairs the award's nomination committee, said: "I can't think of a more deserving person, given his reputation not only as one of our most highly regarded oboists but also a leading ambassador for the musical life of the nation."

Daniel's professional career began aged 18 when he was named the BBC's young musician of the year.

He went on to become a founding member of the Haffner Wind Ensemble and the Britten Oboe Quartet and has performed as a soloist with some of the world's most famous orchestras.

In his career, he has premiered new works for the oboe, including pieces by Harrison Birtwistle, John Tavener and Sir Michael Tippett

The musician regularly conducts the Britten Sinfonia and is oboist to the California-based chamber ensemble Camerata Pacifica.